The role of family environments, where conflict—ranging from disagreements between young people and their parent(s) or carers to home-based circumstances where violence and/or abuse is present—is well documented in research that has examined the causes and correlates of youth homelessness. However, far less attention has focused on how young people themselves frame and understand the significance of family ruptures. This paper examines the family ‘turning point’ experiences embedded in the life stories of homeless youth. The study, which was biographical and longitudinal, aimed to generate an in-depth understanding of the nature of homelessness, how it emerged and its impacts on the lives of young people. Conducted in Ireland, 40 youth aged 16–24 years were recruited at baseline, with all interviews commencing with an invitation to young people to tell their ‘life story’. Analysis of participants' life story narratives revealed three major family turning point experiences associated with parental absence and separation, bereavement and acute interruptions to family life. These turning points, the effects of which had a temporal character, reveal the rippling impact of family ruptures on the lives of young people who embarked on a path of leaving home and becoming homeless. The implications of the findings for enhancing engagement with the families of young people who experience homelessness are discussed.

中文翻译：

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家庭“转折点”经历与青年无家可归的过程

家庭环境的作用，其中的冲突——从年轻人与其父母或照顾者之间的分歧到存在暴力和/或虐待的家庭环境——在研究中得到了充分证明青年无家可归。然而，很少有人关注年轻人自己如何构建和理解家庭破裂的重要性。本文考察了无家可归青年生活故事中的家庭“转折点”经历。该研究是传记和纵向研究，旨在深入了解无家可归的性质、它是如何出现的以及它对年轻人生活的影响。在爱尔兰进行，基线时招募了 40 名 16-24 岁的青年，所有采访都以邀请年轻人讲述他们的“人生故事”开始。对参与者的生活故事叙述的分析揭示了三个主要的家庭转折点经历父母的缺席和分离、丧亲之痛和家庭生活的严重中断。这些具有时间性影响的转折点揭示了家庭破裂对走上离家出走和无家可归之路的年轻人的生活产生的涟漪影响。讨论了调查结果对加强与经历无家可归的年轻人的家庭的接触的影响。